Monday, June 25, 2012

After two years in the #43 slot, D. Eadward Tree, the writer of this blog, has been pruned from The RISI Top 50 Power List of the most influential people in the global pulp and paper industry.

The respected paper-industry publisher came out with its new list today, and I wasn't on it. I had to make way for the likes of Greece ("Tell me more, tell me more"), Starbucks, the iPad3, and a bunch of people who actually work in the pulp and paper industry. The good news is that the founder of TwoSides made the list, while Toshiba did not.

RISI had previously honored me primarily for Dead Tree Edition's coverage of the black liquor tax credits, a boondoggle that allowed U.S. pulp manufacturers to hijack a federal biofuel program.

But, as I pointed out last year in objecting to my repeat appearance on the list, my many articles on the subject (51 and counting) have actually changed nothing. The pulp companies collected their billions of dollars from the original black liquor tax credits, are still cashing in on Son of Black Liquor, and still haven't figured out how whether the income is taxable.

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